Monday, December 22, 2014

Matter of Fact

I sounds like a broken record, but everything about this season of “Lost Girl” just feels so damn bittersweet. The bitter we all know. The sweet has been, among other things, the successful moving on of the show’s cast. Ksenia Solo is already making time on set of “Orphan Black” with Cosima. And now Zoie Palmer has been cast as a lead in a new Syfy series, “Dark Matters.” I’m not familiar with the graphic novel of the same name it is based on. But the premise is like “Lost in Space” meets “Rip Van Winkle” or something:

In Dark Matter, the crew of a derelict spaceship is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal and hidden secrets.

Comic and series co-creator Joseph Mallozzi has confirmed on his blog that Zoie will play “The Android,” the only non-human member of the crew. He describes her character as:

In personality, she is more butler-like than your typical robot – concise, staid, yet surprisingly possessed of a subtly wry sense of humor, she is an indispensible member of the crew since she can exercise control over all the ship’s systems. And she isn’t shy about reminding everyone of the fact. An outsider among the ship’s human passengers, she is almost child-like in her earnest desire to fit in.

So like Spock and Hal and the robot form Lost in Space all rolled into a Zoie-like package. Though, can’t she have a name beyond “The Android?” How about Andi? An? Think about it.

Zoie will be working under some very familiar faces for the show. It is being produced by Prodigy Pictures, the homebase of “Lost Girl” and executive producers Jay Firestone and Vanessa Piazza. The show is being created by “Stargate” alums Mallozzi and Paul Mullie (who also co-wrote the comic). So it appears the source material will be in good hands.

Zoie seems a natural for this role. Her authoritative and calm presence lends itself to, and I say this in truly a flattering way, robotics. Plus her sense of humor should also hopefully shine through. Mostly, I’m just so glad she has found a new series. Because a TV universe without a regular dose of Zoie is not a TV universe I want to inhabit.

4 comments:

I see her part more closely related to Data on Star Trek Next Gereration. Data wanted to please and fit into a world of humans too. It also, means that Zoie has to stay in tip top form because androids don't age

I've become a Zoie Palmer fan. I love her in "Lost Girl", and I'm sure I'll love her as the android in "Dark Matters". I wholeheartedly agree with your idea of her character gaining or remembering a name beyond 'the android'. Hopefully the writers will come up with something - I can't imagine a human crew not having a name for her. I'd really, really love to see Zoie star with whomever her real life love interest is in more romantic movies and TV series' more like "TheLWord" and "Lost Girl" or in anything else she feels like starring in. I hope she has a very long and successful career. I'm looking forward to seeing "Dark Matters" and the fifth season of "Lost Girl".

When I found out Lost Girl had been canceled and that the lovely Zoie Palmer wouldn't be on my tv screen for much longer, I was devastated cause I was afraid she would end up getting cast on a show that didn't air in the US. I can now breathe easy since SyFy is a US network and I will be able to watch it without having to wait for someone to upload the episodes for me to watch.